HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania- June 13, 2013 – The Associated Petroleum Industries of Pennsylvania (API-PA), a division of the American Petroleum Institute, welcomed the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s (PUC) announcement today detailing how local governments are benefiting from the local impact fee revenues collected from natural gas operations in their communities.

“Shale energy production has been generating huge revenues for Pennsylvania – in addition to driving double-digit job growth,” said Stephanie Catarino Wissman, executive director, Associated Petroleum Industries of PA. “This year alone Pennsylvania has collected more than $200 million dollars in impact fees related to shale development. This is benefiting families and communities across the state.”

Under Act 13 of 2012, natural gas producers are required to pay a local impact fee which is deposited into the Unconventional Gas Well Fund. More than $406 million have been collected in 2012 and 2013. According to information posted on the PUC’s website, the revenues have supported housing initiatives, highway and bridge improvements, and environmental programs.

“Shale energy development, made possible by hydraulic fracturing, has been a game-changing opportunity for Pennsylvanians,” said Wissman. “And it’s going to be good news for our economy for many years to come.”

API-PA is a division of API, which represents more than 500 oil and natural gas companies, leaders of a technology-driven industry that supplies most of America's energy, supports 9.2 million U.S. jobs and 7.7 percent of the U.S. economy, delivers more than $85 million a day in revenue to our government, and, since 2000, has invested more than $2 trillion in U.S. capital projects to advance all forms of energy, including alternatives.